This page has been up on Jay Leno’s web site for some time, but I don’t recall seeing it here on TS in the past. I may have missed it, but if I can’t remember it, I’ll bet that some of you don’t recall it, either.
Jay Leno, for those of you that don’t know, is an American commedian that hosts a late night talk show on one of the major television networks here in the US. In his early career, he was somewhat iconoclastic, but has been criticized for losing his edge once he took the reins of his current program. And, most importantly, he’s a car lover. His “garage” contains some great vintage iron — Bugatti, Morris, Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche, Citroën, Duesenberg, Lamborghini and plenty of American brands. A true collector.
As he puts it, a high school friend owned a two-stroke Saab — fitting since Jay is from Massachusetts, a long-standing Saab stronghold. The experience of “free wheeling” — coasting with your foot off the gas — in that old Saab was something that he enjoyed and never forgot. Later, he says that he awoke one night and realized that he “had to get a Saab” and pursued it the next day.
His Saab 93B is modified to 850cc vs. the original 750cc, and the transmission is a four-speed rather than the original three-speed unit. However, everything else is as close to the original as possible, down to using some of the original cloth for reupholstering the interior. He fondly points out that he loves the combination alternator and water pump that both runs the electricals and cools the engine at the same time. (As a 900 fan, I had no idea that was true until I watched the video the first time. Great stuff!)
The video is very entertaining and well edited. Certainly, a great document of a classic Saab.
Click on the picture to view the video on Jay’s website.
Golfhunter: Check out that Citroën SM alongside the Saab!
Eggs,
Would/ could you send Mr Leno an electronic of that Smell of a Saab article I wrote for TS
Might that enjoy that?
I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll have to find an e-mail address. EnG
The only thing I don’t like about Jay Leno and his cars is that he seems to be unable to keep a car original…
He has amazing masterpieces of engineering, but manages to always change a few “bits”… which I think it’s a shame. Both for the genuine “work-of-art” object that such cars are (with their flaws included), and for the ideia that he can do a better job than the original army of engineers…
I think it’s just a cultural difference… but it bugs me a little, still.
But I’m happy he’s happy about his Saab!!!
TdV: Cultural difference? He doesn’t mod cars because he’s American; he mods cars because he likes modding cars. It’s a personal thing, not a cultural one. EnG
Great stuff. His garage is in my hometown of Burbank (where his Tonight Show is also taped), about 20 miles from where I live now. I recognized quite a few of the streets he was driving on in that video.
I saw Jay Leno once driving up Topanga Canyon Road (a popular canyon drive that leads to the ocean) once really slowly in his steam-powered car. There was this steam billowing out everywhere and it is open-top but you can recognize Jay Leno by that trademark hair. He was wearing goggles. I was going to pull-up next to him in my Saab and yell, “hey Jay, wanna’ race?” but thought better of it. Best not distract him. That steam car looks complicated to operate.
Gripen: I saw the Stanley Steamer on the list of cars on the website, but I wouldn’t have thought that it was drivable!! Quite a testament to his interest in automotive history. A true collector in every sense of the word.
eggs: not only is it drivable but apparently it’s road-legal! I believe it had “California Historical Vehicle” plates. He was out in it, by himself, apparently not trying to impress anyone, just enjoying the drive.
And Topanga Canyon Road runs right by my house but it’s about 20 miles each way from where Leno’s garage is. I can’t imagine he took the freeway. He must’ve taken surface streets the whole way.
Grip: Truly amazing.
I give him a LOT of credit for collecting cars with unique technologies — the Saab for instance. And, if I could add just ONE Japanese car to my car collection someday, I would choose the Mazda Cosmo for its uniqueness, just as he has.
Another great quote from his videos on the website: “If the nameplate said Porsche, this would be worth $250,000″. Speaking of the Honda 1400 after recounting all of the technical innovations in the car. In other words, he looks past the nameplate to see the car for what it is.
Curious, given that approach, I see no BMW’s in his collection. Something to think about…
Eggs, re Jay Leno’s email address, why not ask Tom Donney of Tom Donney Motors. That’s who Jay bought it from for $8,500.
Do a Google search for “tom donney jay leno” and you’ll see a link to the Saabnet ad with the story.
Gorgeous car, and a gorgeous collection. Though I have to admit, the non-Californian in me is freaked out by having all that in that seismically unstable state. A good earthquake could destroy them..hopefully when he retires they go to a nice stable place.
James: we haven’t had a decent earthquake since the Northridge quake in ’94 and Leno’s shop in Burbank would have easily survived that one (I lived in Burbank during the ’94 Northridge Quake). I’d be much more concerned if his collection was somewhere in the midwest where a tornado could destroy it or bordering the Gulf of Mexico where a hurricane could take it out.
BTW, Leno’s garage was featured a couple of times on the HGTV show Living with Ed where they follow actor/environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. around. A couple of times Begley visited Leno’s shop. Leno had installed a big wind turbine on the roof of the garage and last time I was on the runway taking-off at Bob Hope Airport (formerly the Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Airport) I saw the shop just across the fence from the runway as the wind turbine (a radial type) stood-out. I remember seeing a quonset-hut building in the background behind Leno’s garage in the television show, and I could see the same building in the airport grounds from the airplane.
Hahaha !!! The Citroen SM ‘s the best car ever built !!!! Cocorico , vive la France !!!!
No I’m joking ….
Hey 1985 Gripen, I was trying to lacate his garage via google maps (looking for the stand-out solar panels) but have had no luck. In this link, you can see him standing on the roof and the runway / mountians in the background.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/highway1/la-hy-throttle7nov07,0,7576160.story?page=1&coll=la-news-highway_1
Can you help me in pointing out about where you saw the turbine / quonset-hut? I imagine it has to be on the west of runway 33 /15. Thanks.
Jay Leno apparently regularly takes the steam car on the freeway – there is even a story that he was even booked for doing 75mph in his 1906 Stanley steamer – that thing really moves! So if he was going slowly, either he was enjoying the view or his car was having problems that day.